A child occupying a vehicle seat may distribute a seating force toward a perimeter portion of the seat cushion rather than in the central portions of the seat cushion typically contacted by an adult seat occupant. Seat occupant sensing devices such as a plate-type sensor or a bladder type sensor found in the prior art are typically disposed within the seat cushion and are configured to detect seating forces generally exerted on the central portion of the seat cushion. Enlarging the bladder or plate or using an arrangement of multiple sensors to detect seating forces exerted on the perimeter portion of the seat cushion undesirably increases the cost of the sensor and/or creates difficulties in packaging the sensor assembly within the seat cushion.